A Strange Place
by DREAMFeathersong
Summary: Hollyleaf reflects on her horrible life. But that's her old life. And she's willing to do anything to fix what she broke.
1. Prolouge

**Hollyleaf is watching from a strange place. It's not Starclan, but it's not the Dark Forest either...**

Look, I know what I did was wrong. I just couldn't help myself. I couldn't let Ashfur betray Squirrelflight, even though she betrayed me. But I don't have to worry anymore.

I'm dead, trapped in a strange place. It's an in-between-Starclan-and-the-Dark-Forest type of thing. Ashfur's here too, but I've only caught glimpses of him. I hope he hasn't seen me.

Now, I'm isolated. My body trapped in the caves, my spirit here. My only comfort is being able to be in Thunderclan in my dreams. They can't see me, they won't feel my presence, but I'm there.

I wish I could just say goodbye though. Let Lionblaze and Jayfeather know where I am. Let them know that I'm better off here. It broke my heart when they sat up all night just for me, too sad to say anything. Confused, lost, hopeless.

Like how I feel every day.

I like to watch Dovepaw training, seeing her helping fill the lake up, talking to her sister. Seeing her by one of the three. Where I should have been.

Sometimes I envy Dovepaw.

But then I think how my life turned out knowing, no, thinking I was part of a prophecy. Look how great _that_ turned out. I just hope Dovepaw is stronger than me. I know she is. I hope she knows it too.

But what I really want is another chance. Another chance at life. I broke the Warrior Code, and I'm paying for it. I just want to undo what I did. Right my wrongs.

Start over.

I know now that Cinderpelt got a chance. But she was amazing. She sacrificed heself for Sorreltail's kits. She wasn't a mouse-brain.

She wasn't me.

My name is Hollyleaf. This is my life, my story. And my second chance.

My second chance of life.


	2. A Quest for Two

I can't believe you want more of me.

You know what I've done, who I am. And yet you're back.

Good.

I'm here to make sure you stay. To make sure you know what I'm doing. I belong here, I know that. But that doesn't mean I can't do anything about it.

I'm going back to Thunderclan.

And I'm going to make myself heard.

The first order of business; find Ashfur. He's got to be around here somewhere. I mean, how big can this place be? No one's heard of it.

Boy, did I prove myself wrong. This place is _big._ Who knew it was designed for all four clans? I checked all of Thunderclan, Windclan, and Shadowclan. He's not there. Only one place left to look.

Riverclan.

The place with water. Flowing water. Rushing and gushing.

The river runs red back home. Red with blood.

It just so happens, he's there. Of course he is, it's the last place I looked isn't it? I can't believe he wants to be near water. Maybe he feels closer to his body. Back in Thunderclan.

I'm pretty sure he hasn't noticed my presence, because the I'm down-wind. But Ashfur's always been quick. There was only one time he wasn't quick enough.

"Hollyleaf. Long time no see. How's the prey running?" Ashfur looks suprisingly calm for...well, for Ashfur. But I know he's just hiding his anger inside.

"Look Ashfur, we don't need the small talk. We both know why we're here." It works. Ashfur whips around. And he's mad alright.

"It just so happens, I'm here because of _you_ Hollyleaf. If it weren't for you, I'd be alive, had my revenge, and be the happiest I've been since...since..." He looked to the ground, unable to say anymore.

Now was my chance. "Ashfur, I know Squirrelflight might have flirted with you before, but can't you see? She just needed a friend to protect her. You did your job. She was happy. Ashfur, she _was._ But you had to ruin it for her. Don't make her be miserable the rest of her life."

I could see I was having some affect on Ashfur. But he just looked at the ground and whispered, "You sound so much like her..."

I left. If he wanted to find me he would. I headed back to the tunnels, found a bundle of moss, and curled down. I will need sleep.

I will need a lot of sleep.


	3. A Way to Escape

When I woke up, the sun was shining overhead. I could feel it, even if I was in a dark, damp place like the tunnels. Something about this place's sun was warm and welcoming, as if it was forgiving you for everything you had done.

I stumbled out of the tunnels, still half-asleep. That's why I didn't notice Ashfur until I bumped into him.

"Ow. Watch where you're going mouse-brain! What are you, blind?" I could tell Ashfur wasn't that mad, he was just pretending. I don't know if he knew that or not.

"Were you watching me sleep Ashfur?" I made a weird face. I was pretty disgusted with him. Besides, he was sooooo old! Ashfur looked offended.

"Of course not! That's disgusting. I was waiting for you to wake up. I've decided we need to get out of here." Ashfur looked proud by his breakthrough. I tried not to get mad. At least he was willing to work together.

"I have a plan. Now, Hollyleaf, if my observations are correct, this place is exactly like the forest, no?" Ashfur was right. It was like an exact replica. I nodded.

"So we travel to the Moonpool and talk to StarClan. See if we can get any information. If we can know anything, we'll be better off. You in?" I have to admit, it was a genius plan.

"Of course I'm in."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

We left for the Moonpool almost immediately. I wanted to hunt, but Ashfur reminded me that we couldn't eat if we wanted to talk to StarClan. He was right, as usual, so we headed out.

I remembered the way to the Moonpool from when I trained as a medicine cat, so I took the lead. It was easier, since we didn't have WindClan to worry about. We went out on the moor, and followed the little stream at the edge of their territory.

We were soon in the little stone hollow. I went up to the pool of clear water, and lay down next to it. With my tail, I motioned for Ashfur to do the same. He lay next to me, and we both lapped up the cool water.

Almost at once, my vision blurred, and I was soon fast asleep.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I was in a forest. It was beautiful, with trees of all kinds and plenty of mice around. I could see pretty flowers, and the sun shining above.

I was suddenly transported to a small tunnel made of brambles. When I walked through it, I was in a small clearing. There were dens all around, like a clan lived here, but it appeared to be deserted.

I peaked in all the dens, one by one. They were all empty except for one. It smelled of herbs; I recognized tansy, marigold, and borage.

Inside, I saw the back of Ashfur. He was talking to an old, grey she-cat with cold, piercing eyes. She noticed me, and her eyes glowed.

"Finally had the decency to grace us with your presence. Come, sit down." Ashfur turned around, and smiled at me. I sat down next to him, and the she-cat nodded.

"Your friend here found his way to me a while ago. Where have you been?" The she-cat questioned me gruffly, and I was surprised by her roughness.

She seemed to be studying me, her eyes prying at my sides and eating up even my deepest secrets. "Hm. Well, be better about coming next time. You think I enjoy waiting around?"

The question seemed to by hypothetical, for she turned back to Ashfur and continued talking.

"As I was saying, you can't escape this place. No cat has ever."

I perked up. "There are other cats here?"

The she-cat growled, but not at me. "There used to be; until they faded. Cats here don't last quickly." She gave an eerie smile that made me feel uncomfortable, which was probably the point.

Ashfur didn't notice. "Well, there has to be _some _way out of here. We got in, didn't we?"

Yellowfang thought about that for a second. "It is true that with every entrance there is an exit," she chose her words carefully.

"Well," Ashfur and I said at the same time. "Where is it?"

Yellowfang licked her lips, again thinking about that. "The entrance to here is death, do you not agree?"

We both nodded.

"So the exit is death as well."

I stared at her. "That's it? All we have to do is die, and we'll go back?"

She gave me another 'smile.' I could tell that she _loved _me. "It's not that simple. You must right your wrongs. You must be a hero."

"So, Hollyleaf has to say sorry to me, and I have to say sorry to Squirrelflight?"

The cat rolled her eyes. "This generation is so _stupid._ No, I mean you have to be heroes in this world. Save someone's life or something."

It was my turn to roll our eyes. "But we're the only ones in here!"

The she-cat flashed off another winning smile. "Then I guess you're stuck here." She began fading away, until she was completely gone.

Ashfur sighed. "Well, we're one step closer to getting out of here."

I batted him over the head. "Yeah, we learned we can't do anything about it!"

Ashfur growled, though more at this place in general than at me. "There has to be another cat here. There just has to be. Think, what other cat has done something bad?"

"Tigerstar."

"For the right reason." Ashfur rolled his eyes and swished his tail in annoyance. "You sure got Crowfeather's stupidity."

I couldn't argue there, even if he was insulting me.

Ashfur sat down, and I could tell he was thinking. Whenever Ashfur thinks hard, his face gets all twisted up and he unsheathes his claws.

I sat down next to him and began to think. Who could be here? I racked my brain, but couldn't think of anyone that would end up here.

"Well?" Ashfur asked me. I just shook my head. "No cat comes to mind."

"Hollyleaf, we'll never get out of here."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Ashfur and I awoke, back at the Moonpool. I stood up and shook my pelt, ruffling up my fur and warming me.

Suddenly, Ashfur let out a shriek. I looked up, and saw three cats lounging around the Moonpool.

"I think they're looking for us Smallstar," one cat said. The cat called Smallstar chuckled, and I didn't know if it was a genuine chuckle, or a sarcastic one.

"I think you're right. New here, are you?" He looked from me to Ashfur, but both of us were speechless.

"Can't talk can you? Not many new ones can. They're too shocked. You'll come around, and we'll be waiting."

Without warning, all three cats stood up and ran away, quickly disappearing. I was too shocked to run after them, and clearly so was Ashfur. We turned to each other and blinked, unsure of what to say.

Finally, I spoke up. "I guess someone else is here after all."


	4. Meeting The Gang

We tried to follow the cats as best as we could. We followed their scents through ThunderClan, but the scents started to fade, leaving us stranded. Ashfur did not seem pleased.

"To get out of here, we have to rescue those mouse-brains." He said it more of a fact than a question, and I couldn't blame him. The three cats hadn't exactly been welcoming.

"So what do we do now?" I asked him. I was hopelessly lost. I knew where we were, we were just past the camp. But I had no idea what to do now.

Ashfur looked as lost as I was. "I don't know. I guess we just…just wait. They seem like the type that'll come back."

He was right. They'd come back, but most likely just to annoy us.

"You're friend here is smart, but not as smart as us!" I jumped back in surprise. I had heard a voice- right next to my ear- but there was no one there.

Ashfur looked around like he had heard it too, so that meant I wasn't crazy.

Above us, I heard a couple cats laughing. I looked up, and saw a dark-brown tom and a grey she-cat in the branches of a tree. A black and white tom was climbing up to join them, looking smug.

Ashfur lowered his eyes and glared at them. "Back so soon?"

"Thought we'd drop in and meet the new cats," The black and white tom laughed. He was obviously the leader of the group.

"Oh, how rude of us," The tom said, looking at the she-cat. "We haven't introduced ourselves. Allow me, I'm Smallstar. This," He said, pointing his tail at the she-cat, "Is Wolfheart. And this is Runningstorm. Littermates, friends, gang, whatever."

He looked at us like he expected to introduce ourselves, but I sure wasn't going to. Knowing Ashfur, he wouldn't either.

"Well, isn't someone being rude?" Wolfheart glared at us, although more jokingly than anything.

I turned to Ashfur, ready for him to make a comeback, but he was just staring at them funny. His eyes were glazed, and I could tell he was concentrating. Suddenly, his eyes lit and he jumped up.

"The Warrior Code!"

We all looked at him funny. I didn't see how the Warrior Code had anything to do with three jerky cats in a tree.

He rolled his eyes at me, as if it were obvious. "They helped form the Warrior Code. Or at least, indirectly. The part where we always have to help kits, even if they're from another clan. There once was this patrol of RiverClan cats, and they saw three kits playing near the river. Then the kits fell in and this one cat wanted to jump in and save them, but she was stopped because they weren't from the clan."

I looked at the three cats, one who was once leader. They weren't exactly small.

"These aren't kits," I told Ashfur.

"No. That night, these cats came to the cat in a dream. These are what the kits would have become if they had lived!" He stared at them in awe, as if they were heroes or something. Personally, they looked ordinary to me.

Smallstar looked confused for a second. "Yeah. Hey, I forgot about that. It's been so long."

Runningstorm nodded. "All I can really remember is this place."

I shivered, thinking of what the grey cat had said. "How come you didn't just disappear like everyone else did?"

All three shrugged. "Why do they disappear in the first place?" Wolfheart asked us. Neither of us had an answer, so they continued.

"The only way we figure we can get out is to do something heroic, but everyone disappears before we can save them!"

"Well, you got us, and we got you." Ashfur said. "Soooo, how does this work? Do you guys want to fall in the river again?"

That set them off. The three cats started screaming, thrashing around the tree until they fell out. Their eyes were wild, and they started to hyperventilate.

I rushed over to Wolfheart and began licking her. "It's alright. Ashfur's just stupid. You're safe. We're right here."

I had to keep doing that for a while, but eventually all of them calmed down, although I think they had new feelings for Ashfur.

"How about we don't do that," I said, glaring at Ashfur. He looked at me innocently, which I silently laughed at. "Why don't we….uhhh…..get to know each other."

All four cats looked at me like I had lost it. Runningstorm looked disgusted. "Do I really have to learn about Wolfheart? Her life is so boring!"

Wolfheart smacked him. "Like _your _life is so fun!"

"Hollyleaf, that's a terrible idea." Ashfur came up to me and patted my shoulder with his tail. I think he thought that my brain was shrinking or something.

"Well, you got a better one?" I sneered at him.

Smallstar rolled his eyes. "A chunk of rabbit could come up with a better plan…"

I growled. I was slightly offended by that remark. "Fine," I said. "You geniuses come up with a plan. I'm going to bed."

I plopped on the ground below me, curled up in a ball, and went right to sleep, feeling the stares of the others on my pelt.


End file.
